What my kids taught me about bathtime

The water sloshes into the tub as I turn the taps on full-ball. It strikes the fibreglass surface and splatters around the bath. It fills steadily as I watch on, squeezing bubble bath into it and testing the temperature to make sure it's not too hot. My two children are doing this strange kind of shuffling jitterbug dance as I undress them. Like most kids, they love a good bath.

Bathtime is all about setting a clear and consistent routine for your children. It is all about signposting the time to get ready for bed. It is all about getting the day's dirt washed away, leaving children fresh, clean and hygienic. It is all about gentle and relaxed bonding with your children in a fun and calm environment. What's not to love about this important time with your children?

So which of these aspects of bathtime is the most important?

The answer:

None of them. None of them really matter. Not to the two grinning toddlers that have been craning to get a look in the tub as I've been filling it.

The truth is this: baths are awesome... because they are full of bubbles.

BUBBLES!

Do you know what you can do with bubbles? YOU CAN DO ANYTHING! Bubbles can be beards, helmets, shoulder pads, clouds, dragons, ships, spaceships, submarines, crocodiles, extra arms, eyebrows, top-hats, gloves, cakes, snow and a billion other things you might be able to think of.

The bath is full and ready, and in the blink of an eye my two little'uns are right in there. They let me soap them up as they roam on the surface of an alien planet, launching space ships and satellites in the sky using rubber ducks and plastic jugs. As I wash their hair they become pirates, setting out to find buried treasure in distant islands.

Through brushing teeth they've changed into animals, roaring at me or snapping their powerful, crocodile jaws together around the toothbrushes as I scrub away and try to lower the dental bills of the future.

And all that other stuff? That stuff about routine, cleanliness and bonding? That's a bonus. That’s a side-show to the main event.

Bathtime is about pirates and dinosaurs and submarines. Bathtime is about making wobbly sculptures out of bubbles that fall apart at the first puff of breath. Bathtime is about laughing as you get a jug full of water emptied over your face.

And bathtime is about mopping up a LOT of water off the floor after the kids have gone to bed. It taken me some time to learn this little fact of life from my children but since I picked it up, bathtime's been a whole lot more fun.